Two prayers....

About Me

A Catholic who follows Rome & the Magisterium. I'm against gay "marriage", abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, human cloning. Altar girls, Communion in the hand, Eucharistic Ministers and "Protestant" music in the Church doesn't bother me at all. A proud American retired submarine sailor. Our borders should be secured with a 10 ft. high fence topped by concertina wire with minefields out to 20 yards on both sides and an additional 10 yards filled with warning signs outside of that Let's get energy independent NOW! Back Israel to the max, stop appeasing followers of the Pedophile Prophet. Pro 2nd Amendment, pro death penalty, Repeal all hate crime legislation. Back the police unless you'd rather call a hippie when everything hits the fan. Get government out of dealing with education, childhood obesity and the enviornment. Stop using the military for sociological experiments and if we're in a war don't micromanage their every move. Kill your television, limit time on the computer and pick up a book. God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

The first few requests were tolerable. A Census Bureau worker would knock on John and Beverly Scott's door and ask them to fill out an American Community Survey. The McKinley Park couple would politely decline.

But as the days passed, the visits became more frequent and the requests more urgent.

Some evenings, the doorbell would ring at dinnertime, then again at 10 p.m.

"I'm generally a nice guy. I didn't want to shut the door in her face," John Scott said. "I said, 'I'm not going to answer your questions.' She kept saying, 'You've got to, you've got to.' I shut the door, and she kept ringing the doorbell and tapping on the window."

It isn't that the Scotts are anti-government or are philosophically opposed to the census. The couple filled out their decennial form last year, answering every question.

But they're not too keen on the American Community Survey, a more in-depth, ongoing questionnaire the Census Bureau conducts to compile information on area demographics, consumer patterns and economic issues.

In particular, the Scotts did not want to answer questions they found too personal, such as inquiries about their income, when they left for work and their health.

"The new questionnaire has gone way over the line," Scott said. "We have told the representative that we are not going to answer private questions, but they continue to come to our door at all hours of the day and night."

Scott said the requests had become so repetitive and annoying, the couple began pulling the old "out-of-candy-on-Halloween trick."

"I work afternoons, and I'm not home," Scott said. "My wife has to sit with the lights off because she doesn't want to be bothered."

Often, even that doesn't work.

"They knock and knock and knock and ring and ring and ring," Beverly Scott said. "Knocking longer is not going to make me answer the door, and it's not going to help if we're not here."

The final straw, John Scott said, was when a Census Bureau employee told him he would be fined $2,000 if he did not fill out the 48-question survey.

Upset, he e-mailed What's Your Problem?

"If they come up with a fine, let's go to court. I don't care," he said. "I just want them to stop coming. That's my main focus. Leave me alone."

The Problem Solver called Jack Walsh, survey supervisor with the American Community Survey's Chicago regional office. Walsh said the survey is required by law and helps determine such things as the Consumer Price Index and how federal funding is allocated.

Although residents can be fined for not participating in the survey, he said that is not the government's goal.

"Those fines exist, but we instruct the field staff that their job is to try to obtain the information through pleasant means, by stressing the importance of the survey," Walsh said. "They're not law enforcement officers."

Walsh said the Scotts will not be fined if they choose not to participate in the survey.

"Realistically, we're not interested in prosecution," he said. "We're interested in obtaining information."

Walsh said households are selected randomly, and the information provided is kept confidential. Information is gathered in three-month cycles, meaning the Scotts would have received their survey in the mail in January, gotten telephone follow-ups in February, then been visited at home by regional field staff in March.

The cycle was scheduled to end within days, but Walsh said Tuesday that he would instruct the field staff to quit visiting the Scotts' home immediately.

"We won't bug him anymore in the next several days," Walsh said.

Beverly Scott said the requests ended immediately.

"They stopped calling and they stopped putting notes on the door and knocking," she said. "It was too much."

(End of story. My comments follow.)

10 at night? Tapping on the windows? Don't try that down here. We've the Castle Doctrineand it's been successfully used in court cases brought by some guy getting shot after trespassing on another's land.

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Followers

About that HHS mandate

Dedicated to my anal-retentive Catholic brethren

John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle.Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -by the Power of God -thrust into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.